Fuck You, Expensive Mini Bar Items.

During my trip to Sydney this week, I hijacked The Husband’s hotel room at the Hilton, considering it a mini perk of having the night off from my kids. He was staying there on business and I took it upon myself to sleep there. It’s a nice hotel, one of Sydney’s best and seems to be catering more for the business guest than the leisure traveller. I didn’t care. I was there for the comfy bed and the proximity to the things I needed to do in the CBD.

Once I curled up in my PJ’s and started padding around the room checking stuff out, I came across something I had never seen before. An automatic mini bar. Meaning if you so much as touch anything on this tray or move it, it gets charged to your room regardless of if you consume it. As soon as I saw it I looked up at the ceiling, convinced I was going to find hidden cameras documenting my every move. I was thirsty, but not that thirsty. Anyone care for some $8 Mount Franklin water after too many drinks at the bar?

Yippee! More comes in the morning in case you spent $24 on the 3 bottles they provide on this tray.

How about if you accidentally bump into the tray? You’ll be slugged amost $100.

The cashews are $14! Better not get the midnight munchies here.

I wondered if there were any cheaper alternatives, so I flicked through the menu. No good news there.

Can of coke for $8? Or perhaps a slightly discounted bottle of water for $7.50

Just for shits and giggles I checked out the dinner menu. This is where they start getting a little crafty using fancy sounding ingredients like mesclun (lettuce), lamb lettuce (lettuce), barberries (little sour red things off a wild bush) and “forgotten grains” which were forgotten for a fucking reason. They are gross. A sandwich with chips is $29, or a simple pasta with tomato sauce, basil and cheese could be in your room within minutes for a mere $36.

I like my barberries and lamb lettuce with a side of preserved lemon and another side of FUCK YOU!

I then began to wonder if breakfast would be any better value. And found a bowl of cereal with toast for $30. Or an eye wateringly expensive big breakfast for $45! I was also shocked to find this room didn’t even have a Nespresso machine or a plunger, just tea bags and those little crappy sachets of coffee. WTF? I put them all in my luggage in pure disgust.

It was clear at this point that I was going to starve to death, so I went out like any good Australian tight arse would and got some Japanese hand rolls and a bottle of beer. It cost a grand total of $15 and most of that was the beer.